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Random Deliciousness

So many wonderful comments about my blanket. you are all too lovely and kind!

In answer to a couple of questions -

Ends -when I start a new round I hold the tails along the top of my work and enclose them as I crochet. Saves an enormous amount of time.

Speed - I made a lot of the squares when my family were away camping. The rest I made in the evenings, 2 or 3 per evening. The joining and blocking I did while the children were at school. Don't forget I don't go out to work or do housework and my children are no longer little. I luxuriate in time.

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Nicky was kind enough to say that she enjoyed my weekly menu page that I had a while back. It was a little tiresome to keep up so I thought the occasional random deliciousness post might fit the bill instead. What do you think?

This is tartiflette, a French dish from the Savoie region. It is potato, bacon, reblochon cheese and cream or crème fraîche. I added some wrinkly apples which turned out to be a good idea. Any cheese will work as long as it is a good melting one. We ate it with a dish of sliced tomatoes. It makes a great family supper and economical too if you use an everyday cheese.

First stew of the autumn. Beef with beer (Theakston's Old Peculiar to be precise). Lots of carrots and mushrooms in there too. Yes, my children do pick out the mushrooms, and I swipe them from their plates. We ate it with baked potatoes, the weather wasn't quite bad enough to warrant dumplings.

That object you can see hanging from a string on the right is not, as my elder son suggested, a testicle, but a bouquet garni. The correct English expression is a 'faggot of herbs'. I didn't mention this to my son as the testicle remark had already caused the dinner table conversation to degenerate.

And while we are on the subject of plums....these are Marjorie's Seedling plums found in my local farm shop. They became our weekend pudding.

Plum crumble tart from Tender Volume II by Nigel Slater. Easy peasy to make. A crumble mixture of flour, ground almonds (almonds go so well with plums), soft brown sugar and butter. Two-thirds of the crumble is pressed into a tin, not too firmly. The halved plums are placed on top and the rest of the crumble scattered over and baked. Nigel adds pinenuts to the topping. I used chopped almonds because my daughter is allergic to pinenuts. It would have been just as delicious without either nut but they did add a pleasant crunch.

Definitely one to try with other fruits. I'm thinking an apple and mincemeat version will be delicious in December.

Comments

sorry about the short reply above but I am having bother with blogger. If you struggle to leave a message, refresh the page and try again. It worked for me. Off to leave a similr message on my latest post.

Hahhaha what a wonderful post. I have a fledgling teen son myself and I know all about how those conversations can go right downhill. :-) What a delicious cheesy dish that tartiflette is! Anything with cheese, potatoes, and bacon is just fine by me.

The tartiflette looks so delish! right up my street! I'ts much like Dauphinoise, is it not? does it have wine in it? what is the difference? I Love creamy, cheesy dishes, I wanted to make a really sinful pasta bake today, but after my curry feast, which was kind of a last supper on Friday,( as back on diet again):( Think I will have to settle for someting boringly healthy! I shouldn't look at your blog, it's way too tempting!

Please can I pay you to cook a batch of tasty dishes and ship them over eastways? I so wish I had the time/inclination/energy to make a bakey cookey feast for the Beans. Or maybe I'll just invite myself over for a luxury mini-break... A!x

Mary, no I don't have someone to do my housework, I'm just lazy -well, that's not strictly true my house is cleanish and ordered but I don't go in for washing windows, curtains, paintwork or anything strenuous.

Ruby Slippers, yes well, this is why I need to lose weight. No, no wine. I think the main difference between tartiflette and dauphinoise is that the potatoes are cooked first -at least they were in my recipe, can't vouch for aunthenticity. The recipe was from Rose Prince's Kitchenella which is a lovely book.

One thing about all the volunteering I do is I am never at home anymore to delight in home cooking and baking. Oh I miss it so and this wonderful post has just reminded me how very much I miss it. It all looks wonderful. MMMMMM stew and plum pudding. What could be finer!

Sue, I love it when you show the lovely food you cook. All those things look soooo inviting and I have to say the potato one looks a little fattening too ! On the house work front you are a girl after my own heart - windows ? I clean them very rarely by hosing them from the outside !!There are lots of other things I'd rather do!CheersHelen

My stomach is grumbling now that I have seen all that amazing food. I am going to have to do a plum crumble as I love plums. The potato one would be a top winner here.Wish I could blink you over here to give me a couple of lessons.xx Sandi

A post on the "occasional random deliciousness" which comes out of your kitchen is very acceptable - thank you so much. I always think eating Tartiflette needs to be earnt by having spent the whole day ski-ing down black runs but being a snow-phobic I make do with imagining the effort and enjoying the taste.